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What is the role of the supernatural in Things Fall Apart?
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The supernatural in Things Fall Apart is integral to Igbo life, influencing personal, social, and spiritual aspects. Igbo beliefs include spirits, gods, and ancestral worship, which are seen as natural and essential to understanding the world. These beliefs provide comfort, resolve disputes, and maintain community stability. The supernatural also highlights cultural tensions with Christianity, as missionaries' attempts to convert the Igbo disrupt traditional practices and social cohesion.
The Igbo people have a complicated and surprisingly down-to-earth relationship with religion. Spirits and spiritual things are intertwined into every aspect of their lives, but not just from the moment of their birth to the moment of their death. They also have a concept of an afterlife, where the ancestors go through a mirror existence of their mortal lives. For example, Okonkwo fears that his own sons will not follow the old ways and will therefore starve him in afterlife, making him eat ashes instead of sacrificed food. Religion extends into a time before birth as well, in the form of evil children who "poison" their mother's wombs and refuse to be born — a symbolic interpretation of a row of miscarriages.
The Igbo view religion as both a framework of their world and means to change it. All throughout the book, Okonkwo is troubled by his evil chi ,...
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his personal spiritual force. He is certain that thechi is responsible for things in his life that he has no control over, like the weather and the accident that eventually forces him into exile. But the supernatural isn't merely passive and unseen. Also included in the Igbo belief system are sacrifices and healing, which can be mastered, like any other task. There are also prayers and sacred animals, holy customs, and evil places.
What makes the traditional religion interesting and very mature is the duality of its representatives. The gods live in their own realm and don't walk the plains of mortals, but they do have priests and priestesses. Okonkwo himself, as a man of high standing, plays the role of an ancestral apparition, disguised under a ceremonial mask. His wives recognize him from his walk and movements but say nothing. It's really no secret that the masked men are men from their own village, all curiously absent from the crowd. It's just not mentioned. While they wear the masks, they are not themselves, but they don't actually change. They simply take on another role. The oracle Chielo is actually a widow, who lives a normal life and is a good friend to Okonkwo's wife Ekwefi. At other times, however, she channels the god Agbala and is completely changed, speaking in a harrowing voice and moving in a trance. All of this is known. It's neither a play nor a transformation, but something more akin to a job. In a world where the spiritual and the religious are not questioned, doing a task for the gods is just another part of daily life. In that sense, the supernatural is made perfectly natural.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is as much a novel about the relationship between Christianity and traditional African religion as it is about the relationship of British colonialism to the Igbo people of Nigeria. Set in the second half of the nineteenth-century, Things Fall Apart is an historical novel weaving imaginary characters with real events. It should be noted that although from a modern, western point of view, many of the elements of Igbo belief would be considered supernatural, for the characters in the story and the Igbo of the period, these phenomena would have been considered precisely the reverse, part of a vision of nature in which gods, spirits, the land, and all living creatures were part of the same world.
Within the novel, Okonkwo is described as having an unbalanced chi, or spiritual nature, something that westerners would consider supernatural. He is described as displeasing Ani, an earth goddess, and her displeasure driving part of the plot. The Oracle which demands the sacrifice of Ikemefuna is another supernatural element, as are the ogbanje, the changelings who are reborn, and their sacred stones. Another supernatural element is the belief that twins offend the earth god, and thus the practice of killing one of the pair of twins. A final supernatural element is the belief in ancestral spirits.Â
What is the role of the supernatural in Things Fall Apart?
For further study and research, I would like to draw your attention to the following links:
Africa Wo/Man Palava: The Nigerian Novel By Women (pp 62-63)
The Medical And Social Dynamics Of Ogbanje
Female Circumcision And Ogbanje
All three links will definitely lead you to further understanding and compassion for the role of the supernatural in the lives of the Igbo. The British and their missionaries very much desired to bring a better world to the Igbo; however, as I mentioned above, they greatly underestimated the dependence of grieving parents upon long-held sacred rituals which provided comfort and strength. Once again, really interesting topic!
Hello! You asked about the role of the supernatural in Things Fall Apart. Besides tribal belief in traditional Igbo gods and goddesses, there are also the otherworldly superstitions prevalent among Okwonko's people.
Traditional belief in gods and goddesses and their role:
1) For personal comfort.
Ikemefuna sings a song to comfort himself on (what he considers) his journey home. He is accompanied by Okwonko (whom he has come to consider a father) and the men of the village of Umuofia. Ikemefuna does not realize that he is marching to his death. The men plan to kill him to avenge the murder of Udo's wife. Along the way, Ikemefuna's thoughts are of his mother and his little sister. He worries whether his mother still lives. He sings a song from his childhood which used to comfort him in times of distress. It is a defense mechanism, sure, but he also derives great courage from it. He reasons that Chukwu, the Lord of Heaven, will hear his first voice and provide his heart's wishes.
2) For redress of grievances when all else fails.
Akunna argues with Mr. Brown, the white missionary, about little gods and the idea of an Overlord. Akunna insists that Chukwu has many servant gods for the people to appeal to. When all else fails, Chukwu is approached as the last source of hope. Mr. Brown disagrees and tries to tell Akunna that no one should be afraid of God the Father, and that all can approach him without fear. The Igbo people believe that when one has failed to perform Chukwu's will, one should be afraid of approaching him. Yet he is so great that Akunna wonders whether mere human beings will fully know his true will. Akunna's people believe that all is not lost when prayers are not immediately answered: Chukwu's majestic power reminds the Igbo that they are not without recourse when it comes to life's most pressing problems and that they have a sympathetic advocate through the hard trials of life.
3) For community stability and peace, a sense of tribal identity.
Personal gods like Ani, Amadiora, Idemili, Agbala, and Ogwugwu are a source of community stability and peace. They centralize in the collective consciousness that certain rituals and ceremonies are to be respected and adhered to; the prosperity of whole clans depends on adherence to certain principles. This contributes to a sense of belonging, a sense of community, and a sense of personal control over one's fate in life. Therefore, when a Christian convert in Mbanta boasts of killing a sacred royal python, the emanation of the god of water, all are aghast. The python is the most revered animal in Mbanta and all surrounding clans. Okwonko wants the Mbanta clan to kill the Christian converts. However, the clan leaders refuse; they argue that it is not their custom to fight for their gods. Okwonko accuses them of reasoning like cowards; he is disgusted by what he considers the womanly cowardice of the clan members.
Here, we can see the importance of Igbo traditional beliefs in the lives of the people. The influence of Christianity within the clans has contributed to the societal disintegration of the Igbo. The missionaries well-meaning desire to bring civilized worship and progressive ways to the Igbo people has instead led to confusion and despair among the Igbo. The missionaries did not take into consideration the depth of loyalty the Igbo have toward their gods, nor did they consider the Igbo dependence on tribal gods for tribal unity and identity.
Superstitions:
Belief in the ogbanje: the ogbanje is an evil child who continually plagues a mother by entering her womb again and again to be birthed by her, only to die. In Things Fall Apart, Mr. Smith, the missionary, suspends a woman from the church for allowing her heathen husband to mutilate their child, whom they consider an ogbanje. Mutilation is believed to prevent the evil spirit from returning. An Ogbanje child is frequently sick, and many succumb to death. The ogbanje explanation serves to help grieving parents come to terms with the deaths of well-loved children.
The egwugwu, spirits of ancestors, are called on to solve quarrels or disagreements between clan members. The egwugwu are formidable spirits, often dressed in forbidding and majestic ceremonial dress. They instill terror in the hearts of the aggrieved party as well as the hearts of the perpetrators. All know that they are to be held to standards of justice that have served the clans for many ages. An example is when Uzowulu brings his case to the egwugwu. He claims that his wife's three brothers abused him physically, took her from their hut, and deprived him of her bride price. However, Mbagfo's three brothers accuse Uzowulu of being an abusive husband, causing Mbagfo to miscarry at least once. In the end, the egwugwu side with Mbagfo. The supernatural powers of the egwugwu are accepted without question; they serve to instill deep awe and respect among those who come to them for help.
I hope this provides a framework for you to work with. Thanks for the question. Very interesting query!